300-unit apartment complex lined up for Germantown site

Sep. 26, 2013

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The Tennessean

Don Meeks

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Don Meeks, a Houston architectural designer known for snapping up properties and then selling them to developers for apartment communities, has a nearly 2.8-acre tract in Germantown under contract for $5 million.

Even before sealing the deal, Meeks had a third-party developer in tow for a project that could feature 300 apartment units with retail space on the first floor.

The site, right off Jefferson Street bridge, is bounded to the south and north by Jefferson and Madison streets and the east and west by Second Avenue North and Third Avenue North. It’s in a part of the Germantown neighborhood that has attracted infill apartments, condos, restaurants and offices by developers drawn by its proximity to downtown.

“It’s a stable neighborhood that has the aesthetics, the location and the (key) demographic that Nashville is attracting,” said real estate broker Ronnie Wenzler, co-owner of the BowTruss Buildingat Third and Jefferson, citing tech-savvy, 25- to 35-year-olds who enjoy urban living. “You add the investment in the (potential Sounds) baseball stadium, and you have something already great become even more interesting and get even more foot traffic.”

Most recently, Meeks’ activities on the local apartment scene have included assembling, designing and selling the site across from the Nashville Farmers’ Market where Lincoln Property Co. and MetLife plan to co-develop the 232-unit Artisan Lofts apartment building.

Over the summer, he put under contract an acre of land at Rutledge Street and Lea Avenue near Rolling Mill Hill. Terwilliger Pappas Multi­family Partners has that site under contract for about $4 million for its first Nashville area project.

Roger Thomas and Chris DuReaux of Brentwood-based Veritas Realty Group, LLC, have been marketing the three parcels in Germantown Meeks has under contract for its current owners, Third Avenue Associates and the Sneed Family General Partnership. Richard Wallace, a real estate broker who goes by “The Landman” is Meeks’ representative in the transaction.

Getahn Ward covers growth and development for The Tennessean. Reach him at 615-726-5968 or at gward@tennessean.com. Follow him on Twitter: @Getahn.